A Coast Guard official told IANS that there was sightings of any aircraft debris in the Bay of Bengal by the search team

The aircraft, an upgraded AN-32 belonging to 33 Squadron, took off from Tambaram Air Force Station in Chennai at 8.30 a.m., and was expected to land at Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands at 11.30 a.m., officials said, describing it as a “routine sortie”

The incident comes a year after a Coast Guard Dornier aircraft with three crew members on board for a routine surveillance flight went missing

With no sightings of any debris in the Bay of Bengal, search for the AN-32 aircraft with 29 people on board that went missing on Friday morning, continued on Saturday said an official of Indian Air Force (IAF).

“The search is going on. If there is any substantial development it will be made known,” Wing Commander Anupam Banerjee, Public Relations Officer for IAF told IANS over phone from New Delhi on Saturday, July 23.

IAF AN-32. Image Source: defence.pk

A Coast Guard official told IANS that there was sightings of any aircraft debris in the Bay of Bengal by the search team.

Only a catastrophic accident in a “no talk/radio zone” or “dead zone” could destroy an aircraft suddenly, an experienced pilot with the Indian defence forces told IANS late Friday.

Those on board comprised six crew members, 15 personnel from the IAF, army, navy and Coast Guard, and eight civilians who were family members of the personnel.

The aircraft, an upgraded AN-32 belonging to 33 Squadron, took off from Tambaram Air Force Station in Chennai at 8.30 a.m., and was expected to land at Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands at 11.30 a.m., officials said, describing it as a “routine sortie”.

IAF AN-32 take off at 8:30am for Port Blair. Image Source: www.thequint.com

According to a report submitted to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar by Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, according to the recorded transcript of Chennai air traffic radar, last pickup was 151 nautical miles east of Chennai, when the aircraft was observed to have carried out a left turn with rapid loss of height from 23,000 feet.

A massive search and rescue operation involving aircraft, helicopters, ships and a submarine was launched immediately to find the plane that went missing around 300 km off Chennai, and will continue through the night.

The last contact with the aircraft was established roughly around 15-20 minutes after the take-off, sources said.

According to IAF, the AN-32 is a twin engine turboprop, medium tactical transport aircraft of Russian origin. It can carry a maximum load of around 6.7 tonne or a 39 paratroopers.

The aircraft’s maximum cruise speed is 530 kmph.

“Planes are designed to fly even during an emergency. There will be reaction time to the pilots facing an emergency to send out messages for help or turn towards safety,” an Indian defence forces pilot told IANS.

According to the pilot, an AN-32 aircraft will not drop down like a stone or vanish into thin air in the case of normal emergency, as there will be reaction time.

IAF AN-32 maximum speed is 530Kmph. Image Source: Indian Express

“But in the case of a catastrophic threat, the pilots will not have the necessary reaction time,” he said.

An aircraft will not always be on the radar, he noted.

“If the distance to be travelled is around 1,500 km for instance and travel path involves flying over sea then there are chances that the aircraft could not be in the radar from the city of departure after say around 300 km. And it would come into the radar on the other side only when it is around 300 km from its destination,” he said.

“So effectively sometimes there will be a dead zone of 700 km. In smaller aircraft, the pilots switch on to the high frequency for being in touch,” the pilot added.

Coming to the probable cause of its vanishing suddenly, he said: “The possibilities of different catastrophic events happening in the sky cannot be ruled out.”

“For example if an aircraft is caught in a strong thunderstorm, then a plane is as good as a paper caught in the storm.

“The storm will throw the plane like a stone,” he said.

According to him, there have been instances when an airplane that was flying at around 35,000 feet altitude dropped down to 5,000 feet but regained control after that.

The other catastrophic events that can happen to a plane were sudden failure of all the engines; devastasting fire; fuel leakage, jamming of flight controls, loss of flight controls due to fire; power and electrical failure and others.

He said in the best case scenario if the AN-32 had come down gradually then it would have been picked up by some radar or the pilots would have the time to react.

Normally a plane is fuelled taking into account the emergency deviations that may arise – the need to go back to the airport from where it took off or to some other nearby airport in case of an emergency, he added.

Indian Navy Dornier Aircraft. Image Source: Indian Express

The incident comes a year after a Coast Guard Dornier aircraft with three crew members on board for a routine surveillance flight went missing.

The search team found its black box nearly a month later. The skeletal remains and personal belongings of the crew members were recovered from the seabed off the Tamil Nadu coast. (IANS)

The enormous area of Tamil Nadu makes it the 11th largest state in India and in terms of population

The word Tamil Nadu literally means ‘The Land of Tamils’ or ‘Tamil Country’. The existence of this place dates back to 1000 of years back. It is one of the 29 states of India, Chennai is its capital. The state is also the second largest contributor to India’s GDP and second most industrialized state in India.

The state inhibits many forms of classical arts, classical music, and classical literature. The diversity can be seen in language, caste and many more things. Tamil Nadu is also home to a number of historic buildings and religious sites including historic hill stations and Hindu temples of Tamil architecture.

Take a tour of the mesmerising beauty of Tamil Nadu and its culture.

1. When the world is going super costly day by day, Tamil Nadu has something very unique in its Corporation restaurants in Chennai, where one can get Idlis for Re 1 and curd rice for Rs 3.

2. One of the oldest known languages is said to be Latin. But as it’s not being in use anymore, Tamil language grabs the spot of oldest living language.

In 2016, Tiruchi received almost 1.21 crore tourists which were slightly more than 1.20 crore in 2015. Wikimedia Commons

3. The great M.S. Subbalakshmi and Rukmini Devi Arundel have redefined the way the whole city buzzes with enthusiasm over art forms. But very few people know that Chennai’s Music and Dance festival is often counted as one of the major festivals of the city which goes side by side with other festivals like Pongal.

4. The trend of the banking sector in the country was initiated by the Tamilians. They started certain banking institutions like Indian Overseas Bank, Indian Bank, The United India Insurance etc for the smooth transaction of the money. Even the credit and debit system of banking was also introduced by them.

5. Myanmar owes Tamilians their one-third of the rice fields. As many years back, Tamil Nadu was in major trade with Burma and Ceylon to enhance their economy. Tamil Nadu was also involved in direct with some of the European nations.

6. The political scenario of the Tamil Nadu is quite blunt. There are only two parties who are the heavy weight of that region. One as DMK, headed by Karunanidhi family and other as AIADMK, which was headed by Lt. Jayalalithaa.

7. The enormous area of the state makes it the 11th largest state in India and in terms of population, its 7th most populous state in India.

8. Tamil Nadu has much of diversity in languages in its region. Interestingly, the language is spoken in Chennai and the interiors of Chennai are different.

The great M.S. Subbalakshmi and Rukmini Devi Arundel have redefined the way the whole city buzzes with enthusiasm over art forms. Wikimedia Commons

9. Tamil Nadu holds the record of state with the highest literacy rate with 80.3%. All the schools and colleges in Tamil Nadu are only in Tamil Medium or English medium. Hindi is acknowledged as the third language in the private schools.

10. The brilliance of Tamil Nadu’s tourism can be understood by state topping the list of States with the most tourist arrivals, both domestic and international for the third consecutive year.

11. Tamilians prefer to grow rice in their filed rather than wheat and hence their staple food is rice and not chapattis.

12. Tamil Nadu has a spectacular reservation policy for its citizens. The Brahmins and the high castes are not covered under it, rest 90% of this state population comes under the reservation quota.

13. The state is home to some very ancient and splendid temples. Tamil Nadu has around 33,000 ancient temples and some even 1400 years old. The likes of Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai, Brihadeswara Temple in Thanjavur, Ramanathaswamy Temple in Rameswaram, Thillai Nataraja Temple in Chidambaram and Kapaleeshwarar Temple in Chennai among many others.

Tamilians prefer to grow rice in their filed rather than wheat and hence their staple food is rice and not chapattis. Wikimedia Commons

14. Tiruchi is a favourite destination for many of the tourist visiting the state. In 2016, Tiruchi received almost 1.21 crore tourists which were slightly more than 1.20 crore in 2015. The notable attractions of Tiruchi include Rock Fort, the Ranganathaswamy Temple and the Jambukeswarar Temple.

15. For many people, Hill stations are a synonym for states like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu & Kashmir. But, in reality, Tamil Nadu also has the best and the most visited hill stations all over India. Places are Kodaikanal, Ooty, Coonoor, Ketti Valley, Valparai and Yelagiri Hills are a delight to watch. Some of the most prominent tourist spots include waterfalls, wildlife and bird sanctuaries, national parks and beaches. The state holds both hill stations and beaches in its territory.

16. The Tamil Nadu Tourism Department has come up with a unique way of absorbing the excess traffic on road and at the same time promoting state’s tourism. Tourism Department has identified 32 of new tourist destinations apart from the key destinations like Udhagamandalam, Kodaikanal, Madurai, Rameswaram, Mamallapuram, Kanniyakumari etc.

17. Tamil Nadu has tourism friendly policies with an aim to developing the high-priority tourism infrastructure. By this way, the state ought to promote environmentally and culturally sustainable tourism.

18. The state is bestowed with age-old temples and complex infrastructures. To honour such structures, UNESCO has marked eight World Heritage Sites in Tamil Nadu.

There are only two parties who are the heavy weight of that region. One as DMK and other as AIADMK, which was headed by Lt. Jayalalithaa. Wikimedia Commons

19. For any state, trade is a considerable source of tourism. As Tamil Nadu state is the largest producer of turmeric and banana. Also, the state is the second largest producer of Coconut, Mango and groundnut.